Project Nim
Normally I would be reluctant to criticize a film without seeing it, but after listening to some interviews of the participants and reading some reviews that confirm my suspicions, I feel far more comfortable in my opinions. Project Nim is about a chimp (Nim) and the life he lead at the hands of his human “caregivers”.
Nim was the subject of an experiment to see how well a chimp could communicate with humans. He was given to a large family where he was “raised” as a human child. The mother went so far as to nurse the young chimp. (Yes, I did say ‘nurse’…many of you can close your mouths now). That alone seems cause for some sort of incarceration. Where the heck was PETA?
Eventually, the chimp became unmanageable and created problems with his biting. (I think someone needed to remind them that Nim was actually an ANIMAL!) The project ended and Nim was sent back to the university. One student in particular formed a close ‘friendship’ with Nim. So much so that he was known to share the occasional joint with the chimp and get high. Nim was even shown in the pages of High Times Magazine. The university then sells Nim to an lab for experimentation, then later he is ‘saved’ by an animal sanctuary.
So here we have this chimp that is raised, not just like a human, but a neglected and abused human. He is shuffled from home to home, handed from one person to another, and introduced to recreational drugs. Sounds like an after school special to me. I don’t know how the movie ends but I don’t think Nim gets hooked on to harder drugs or dies in a crack house or anything.
The one scene I would like to see is when Nim’s nurse ‘mother’ visits him after many years and enters the cage. Nim, being the abused and neglected adolescent that he has now become, takes his earth muffin ‘mother’ and drags her around his cage and flings her about. Again, someone needed to remind her that Nim is an ANIMAL!
So yes, the experiment was a success. It shows that animals can be very much like humans and will react the same way as we would if mistreated and abused. It shows that humans might not be the top of the food chain, that academia can be full of self-righteous fools, and the line between human and animal behavior is a very blurry one indeed.
July 20, 2011 at 9:01 pm
Wow! What a great post. I must look up this film and explore it’s intricacies, especially in the realm of communication. And since I am an animal abolitionist, I will come at it from that angle also.
But the “nursing” thing didn’t surprise me in the least. I have a sister who is a professional (and VERY successful) psychotherapist, who nursed her cat for a while until her psychotherapist husband became very upset with the ordeal. I even have pictures of it! So, I know it was real. People do strange things for strange reasons. At least this was a nurturing one and not a cruel one.
Thanks for the post. I’m always wondering what you’re up to.